Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: Europa
Blu-ray: Magnet (Magnolia Home Entertainment)
Disc:
Region: FREE!
(as verified by the
Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 1:41:00.554
Disc Size: 35,543,941,712 bytes
Feature Size: 29,202,511,872 bytes
Video Bitrate: 18.10 Mbps
Chapters: 12
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: April 27th, 2010
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps
Video codec: VC-1 Video
Audio:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 2419 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2419
kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio French 4537 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4537
kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles:
English (SDH), English, Spanish,
none
Extras:
• The Making of District 13: Ultimatum – in SD (26:30)
• Production Diary – in SD (34:30)
• Alonzo Déterminé Music Video – in SD (3:35)
• Deleted & Extended Scenes – in SD (9:20)
• HDNet: A Look at District 13: Ultimatum – in HD
The Film:
6
The sequel, starting three years after the first movie,
again stars Cyril Raffaelli as Captain Damien Tomaso of the
Police Special Forces and David Belle as Leito, local, agile
nice guy who still lives in the tenements of District 13.
Like the original movie, whose tag line could have been
"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose", the district
that was home to slum dwellers and militia gangs of Chinese,
Blacks, Arabs, Skinheads and what all, is still home to
Chinese, Blacks, Arabs, Skinheads and what all, where an
uneasy truce (read: powder keg) exists between them and the
cops. The new government has failed to keep a promise to
clean up and regenerate the neighborhood. Meanwhile, a
renegade cadre of government special forces under the
leadership of Gassman (Daniel Duval) have set into motion a
plan to ignite a civil war whose only solution is to bomb
the hell out of B-13 so that "Harriburton" (sic) the
celebrated reconstruction company, can do what they best. (I
was expecting something about kickbacks but writer Luc
Besson sidestepped that motive for some reason.)
My proposed tag line suggests a tape loop of a repeating
history that could apply as well to the plot contrivances
and to the basic idea for the stunts as well, except for how
much more interesting Raffaelli has become, both as a
stuntman and an actor. (In my researches I discovered his
presence in, among other things, the first two Transporter
movies, The Incredible Hulk (the one with Ed Norton), Wasabi
(with Jean Reno), and Le Pacte des loups (aka: The
Brotherhood of the Wolf – and one of my favorite films in
the genre).
Leito's first chase scene is not nearly as interesting as
any of the other set pieces in the original movie – or this
one. He's just some guy running. Also it doesn't go anywhere
except to remind us who the character is and to witness how
things have deteriorated in District 13 in the intervening
three years. But all that is made clear in the montage under
the opening credits, so there's no need to recapitulate. I
wouldn't bring him into the movie until 25-30 minutes into
it, not until after the marvelous extended fight scene and
escape by Damien (Raffaelli), who is much more interesting
in the sequel. By comparison, Belle (who is only a year
older and took our breath away in the first movie with his
rooftop jumps and generally awesome gymnastics) looks tired
by comparison, which means that he can still outrun, outjump,
and outmaneuver just about anyone alive.
As many critics have pointed out, we don't go to see movies
like District 13 for its clockwork plot and character
development – which reminds me: I could have used more
screen time from Elodie Yung as the gal with the deadly
braid - but for the jaw-dropping action sequences, which, we
are told, are performed pretty much as you see them. Still,
you know you're in trouble if, midway into the movie, you
find yourself longing for The Warriors (with apologies to
Walter Hill.)
Image:
8/9
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
The first number indicates a relative level of excellence
compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a ten-point scale.
The second number places this image along the full range of
DVD and Blu-ray discs.
I have no doubt that Magnolia's Blu-ray transfer is faithful
to the processed negative. I found no disturbing artifacts
and source print appears flawless. Blacks are solid and
colors, vivid. That said, this is one strange looking film:
There's hardly a sharp frame in it, and just about every
still shot has such a narrow depth of field whose focus is
just off enough that we're itching to get things to get in
motion again. I suspect this is the intent – and a clever
subterfuge it is. Add to this a heightened contrast and
color that adds to the frenetic feel of the movie. This is a
movie that never wants to sit still.
Audio & Music:
6/2
Magnolia offers two uncompressed audio tracks in DTS-HD MA
5.1: the original French and an English dub. The latter is
so pathetic that I could barely distinguish one character
from another (Where do they get these actors from anyway!).
Fortunately for those who disdain subtitles, there isn't a
great deal of dialogue, and what there is of it won't strain
the mind, so go with the French, please.
Perhaps I was more influenced by what I felt was a boring
techno music track with little invention and practically no
weight or authority that I couldn't make a proper assessment
of the effects. In some ways the one is so mixed with the
other, it's all one clangy goulash (with apologies to the
Hungarians.) There are some well-judged effects, however:
The scene at the restaurant where Damien is in drag places
the "live" music (ugh) properly muffled when the door to the
boss's office is closed. Ho-hum. And the action scenes have
lots of localized effects and pans and all those bangs,
crashes and things breaking that we come to expect from an
action film. Yet the music has this way of unintentionally
compressing its high energy action into a drum machine. You
can tell I didn't like the music, yeah?
Operations:
7
The disc loads promptly after a few logos and unforced
previews. The menu is clearly organized, if unimaginative.
Audio and subtitle tracks are readily accessible from the
remote as well as the menu. I could have used a few more
chapters.
Extras:
6
There is no commentary, but the two main documentaries cover
the ground nicely, if not thoroughly: The 26-minute
Making-Of piece runs us through the choice of locations
(Serbia for the crumbling, futuristic District 13, Paris for
the government and police buildings). There's a lengthy
segment on the stunt coordination: Cyril managed the combat
stuntman, David, the action group, but Cyril is the overall
stunt choreographer (we learn that the Van Gogh idea was
Luc's.) David talks a little about parkour, the action mind
and body set that he more or less developed, and we get to
see how most of the stunts are pulled off: keep your eyes
open, these go by quickly. The Production Diaries are a
loose, but extensive series of behind-the-scenes bits. There
is no narration here, but the footage is self-guiding. All
of this is subtitled and the picture quality is very good
standard definition. The 16x9 SD music video looks pretty
good as well. There is also an HDNet piece that I didn't
check out.
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Bottom line:
7
If you can tolerate the music and have the proper mind set
for what District 13: Ultimatum will deliver, then you
should have a good time with this Blu-ray. The movie is
hardly any better or any worse than the original. So if
you've the seen the one, you should know that, except for
Raffaelli, there is no really good reason to see the other
unless you want to see more of the same – which is good
reason enough. The Magnolia is also releasing a double
feature Blu-ray at the same time with the original movie,
presumably the same disc Magnolia published back in 2007.
The price is good – only an additional $10.00 for both
movies.
[a note on the titles: The original French title is "Banlieue
13" "Banlieue" means "District". So the U.S. title "District
B13" is kind of redundant.]
Leonard Norwitz
April 11th, 2010
